Mirabell Palace Audio Guide

Mirabell Palace: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Mirabell Palace

   Welcome to Mirabell Palace, or Schloss Mirabell as it is known in German, one of the best-loved landmarks in the city of Salzburg. Stand for a moment and take in the whole scene: the palace, its formal gardens, and, on a clear day, the Hohensalzburg Fortress rising in the distance as a backdrop. This is a place with several lives. It began around 1606 as a very personal residence for a prince-archbishop. It was later rebuilt in lavish Baroque style, and today it is part of the Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is still a working building, too, because the offices of the mayor and parts of the city administration are housed inside. Over the next few minutes we will look at a scandalous beginning, a grand rebuilding, the gardens and the hall where music still sounds, and a famous film scene that brings visitors from around the world. Take your time and let the place work on you. It was named, after all, for something wonderful and beautiful.

2. 02

   A Palace Built for Love, Renamed for Beauty

   Let us go back to around 1606. Prince-Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau, who ruled Salzburg as both spiritual leader and worldly prince, had a residence built just outside the old city. He called it Schloss Altenau, and it was home to his family and to Salome Alt, his mistress. For a churchman of his rank, this was a bold statement to make so openly. Fortunes in Salzburg could turn quickly. His successor, Marcus Sittikus, banished the mother and children from the palace, and he gave it a new name, Mirabell. It is a blend of two Italian words, mirabile, meaning wonderful, and bella, meaning beautiful. Few buildings can claim a name so flattering, and it stuck for more than four centuries. Some traces of that first palace still live on. The central stairway of today's Mirabell is based on the stairway of the original Schloss Altenau. So when you climb the steps inside, you are following a design that goes back to Wolf Dietrich's own household.

3. 03

   The Baroque Rebuilding and the Donnerstiege

   The palace you see today is largely the work of the early eighteenth century. From 1721 to 1727, under Prince-Archbishop Franz Anton Harrach, Mirabell was rebuilt in lavish Baroque style, to plans by the architect Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt. The aim was to turn the earlier buildings into one grand, harmonious palace complex. Look for the court of the western wing, with its richly decorated facade. Its ground floor is rusticated, which means the stonework is given a rugged, textured look, and that expresses a Baroque idea of pastoral tranquillity. It is a lovely contrast with the ornament above. Inside, the star is the Donnerstiege, the stairway of Mirabell. It is a Baroque gem, with a generous helping of marble, sculpture and other artwork, and it is a unique piece in the heritage of Salzburg. Then there is the Marmorsaal, the Marble Hall, another elaborate expression of Baroque craft. It is celebrated today as one of the finest wedding halls in the world, and it is also a concert venue. This is the hall where the Salzburg Palace Concerts are held, and where, as the story goes, Leopold Mozart and his children Wolfgang and Nannerl once performed.

4. 04

   Gardens, a Royal Birth and a Singing Nun-in-Training

   Step out into the Mirabell Gardens, and you are in a layout older than the Baroque palace itself. The gardens were laid out from 1687 under Prince-Archbishop Johann Ernst von Thun, to plans by the great architect Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach. Walking here, you feel the geometry of the Baroque, with order and symmetry arranged for the pleasure of the eye. The palace has seen its share of history, too. On the first of June, 1815, the later King Otto of Greece was born here, while his father, the Bavarian crown prince Ludwig, served as stadtholder in the former Electorate of Salzburg. In 1866 the city of Salzburg bought the palace, and after World War II it became home to the mayor's office and municipal departments. And then there is Hollywood. The gardens are one of the principal settings of the musical The Sound of Music. Here Maria and the children sing Do-Re-Mi, dancing around the Pegasus fountain and using the steps as a musical scale. See if you can find that fountain, and perhaps hum a note or two as you climb the steps.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off

   Mirabell is a palace that never settled into being just one thing. It started as a private home with an unconventional household, became a showpiece of Baroque ambition, and is now a city office, a concert setting, a wedding venue and a public garden all at once. That mix is part of its charm. Before you move on, try looking at it in layers. Notice the Baroque order of the gardens, then the fortress on the horizon, then the palace facade, and ask yourself how many different eras are standing in front of you. The stairway inside carries a design idea from the very first palace, and the hall above echoes with music that has been part of Salzburg for centuries. If you still have energy, wander the garden paths slowly and let the place surprise you. Every angle seems to frame something different, and Mirabell rewards a second look.